My goat belongs to me again

"The leopard shall lie down

  with the young goat"

Isaiah 11:6

Do you know the origin of the phrase "get your goat" ?  It means to agitate or irritate someone.  But the origin is really interesting.  It has to do with racehorses, who apparently are a nervous sort of critter, as a rule.  And because of that nervousness, they feel better when they've got company in their stall.  So trainers took to putting a goat in the stall with them to keep them calm.

But then unscrupulous types took to stealing the goat, hoping that the resulting nervous horse, would be less able to perform at race time. 

Fascinating where we get some of our quirky sayings, isn't it?

I was thinking about this recently, while at church.  I was chatting with an acquaintance there ~ I'm very deliberately using the word "acquaintance" in this instance.  I'm not sure I could really call her a friend.  First of all, we don't actually talk to each other very much.  Guess we don't have much in common or something.

And secondly, well.... she gets my goat.

Actually, that's not true.  The truth is that she used to get my goat.   She had a.... habit.  Or quirk.  Or way of acting, or something, that somehow rubbed me the wrong way.  I really can't even explain it.  Besides, putting it into words would make it sound trite.  Which maybe it is.

But I've known her for years, and I realized recently that somewhere along the line, I stopped being irritated by her.  Or I stopped being hypersensitive ~ however you want to phrase it.

I don't know why.  I don't know how.  I only know Who.  What I know is that it bothered me that she bothered me and I didn't want it to be that way.   So I prayed, and sometime, when I wasn't even looking, He answered.  I didn't try to stop being annoyed by her.  I don't even know how I would do that.  I just prayed.

And the funny thing is, she's still doing what she used to do.  She hasn't changed.  But I have.  God can do that.

~ "Now may the God of patience and comfort

grant you to be like-minded toward one another,

according to Christ Jesus" ~

Romans 15:5